Category Archives: Land Titles

I know contract writers who like to state terms, such as property descriptions, several different ways. If you just have to over-describe, at least be careful, and at least be sure the descriptions are consistent. The McGregors and Millican were adjacent landowners fighting over a 34.28 acre wooded tract in Brazos County, Texas. The question: Was the acreage in Millican’s chain of title. The answer: “No”. A 1945 deed… Continue Reading

Why am I always reporting on plaintiffs who wait too long to file their lawsuit? See below for a few possible answers. In the latest Texas case, Trahan v. Mettlen, the Trahans sued in 2010 on a 2006 warranty deed. The earnest money contract for the sale of property from the Mettlens to the Trahans… Continue Reading

Co-author Brooke Sizer Halloween is approaching, so let’s talk poltergeists – troublesome spirits that haunt a specific location. Where do they come from? In Quality Environmental Processes, Inc. v I.P. Petroleum Company, Inc., it was from a faulty property description that lay dormant for 30 years before beginning its vexations. The Demon is Spawned A 1966 mineral deed… Continue Reading

Why would anyone buy property without access to a public road? Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess. And often it is, until things change, “things” often being new and unfriendly ownership of the surrounding property. The Texas Supreme Court has addressed this situation. Hamrick v. Ward clarified the law for two different kinds of implied… Continue Reading

It looks like what you’d expect: a bunch of litigants spending lots of time at a courthouse in Goliad, Texas, with no end in sight. After much “sprawl” in Harkins v. Northshore Energy it came down to the meaning of this property description (call it Tract 2): “Being 1,210 acres of land, more or less, out of 1,673 acres out of the… Continue Reading

Co-author Katie R. English. The Question In order to be a good faith purchaser, a party must not have actual or constructive notice of another’s rights. Northern Oil and Gas v. Creighton asked, When should the determination of whether a party has notice be made, A: At the time the second lease is recorded, or B: When the… Continue Reading

As Donald Rumsfeld teaches, knowledge can be divided into three categories: Known knowns; things that we know that we know; known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know; and unknown unknowns; the ones we don’t know we don’t know. Another philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, adds a fourth, for… Continue Reading

Co-author Brooke Sizer Let’s talk title disputes, especially ones between those with record title and those claiming title by possession: They are complicated (There were 229 defendants in today’s case) They happen when there is a lot of money to fight over ($2.7 MM in today’s case) They involve events that happened a long time ago The witness who can… Continue Reading

The question in Graham v. Prochaska: Did the grantors in a 1950 Texas warranty deed reserve a “floating” 1/2 royalty interest or a “fixed” 1/16th royalty? The Deed At issue were three provisions: “Save and except there is reserved … ½ of the 1/8th royalty to be provided in any and all leases …, same being equal… Continue Reading

If you examine titles or read title opinions, this post is for you. By Taylor Grove Lamb I was recently examining instruments for an East Texas title opinion when I came across an instrument that, at first glance, appeared to be an easement. Scanning the document, I saw the phrases “right of way” and “road”—leading one to believe… Continue Reading

Co-author Tara Trout Flume As promised in our last post, here is a state-by-state review of the Duhig Rule – who has adpoted it, who hasn’t, and who might. Texas – Duhig v. Peavey Moore Lumber Company, 135 Tex. 503, 144 S.W.2d 878 (1940) was a Texas case. As a result, producing states have Texas to thank for the Duhig… Continue Reading

Co-author Tara Trout Flume Johnson v. Finkle, from North Dakota, centers around the long-standing but oft-forgotten headache that is the Duhig doctrine. If you aren’t familiar, you should be. Here it is: The Rule “Where a grantor conveys land in such a manner as to include 100% of the minerals, and then reserves to himself 50%… Continue Reading

Lawyers and landmen are taught that a document affecting real or immovable property not recorded in the public records means nothing to a stranger. Like O. J.’s quest for the real killer, lower premiums after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the present I would have given my wife except I forgot our… Continue Reading

Occasionally in my litigation experience I’m reminded of time-honored rules of law. Often I’m pleased, sometimes I’m not. So it was, I assume, for the parties in Midnight rilling, LLC v. Triche et al .The Rules In Louisiana law, operations and production of minerals sufficient to interrupt prescription of a mineral servitude for nonuse within a unit can interrupt the running… Continue Reading

Comparative Title Analysis in Texas, North Dakota and Montana co-authored by Katie English and Taylor Lamb The Title Question Harold Smith, the owner of Blackacre, and his wife, Wendy Smith, execute a deed covering all of their interest in Blackacre to Tiger Drilling. The deed reserves to Harold and Wendy a 50% mineral interest. Does… Continue Reading

Comparative Title Analysis in Texas, North Dakota and Montana. Co-authored by Katie English and Taylor Lamb The Title Question Your title examiner often encounters a conveyance to an individual “as Trustee” with no Trust specified in the instrument. For example, the Mineral Deed conveys all right, title and interest in Blackacre to “Harold Smith, Trustee,” but… Continue Reading

Most of the time, if you read Stroud et al v. Hosford et al. even Hamilton Burger might have won on these facts. But when a lease subject to an override is terminated and replaced by another, Texas cases usually end up against the overriding royalty owner. The Holding: The court agreed with the jury that the lessee intentionally terminated the lease… Continue Reading

A provision in a contract, no matter how unequivocal, does not always trump the law. The oil and gas lease allowed assignments, but no change or division in ownership of the land or royalties would be binding on the lessee until the acquiring party had furnished lessee with the instruments constituting his chain of title from the original lessor. Jones v. Clem says… Continue Reading

At Looper Reed we advise our clients that it is good business to accommodate your neighbor informally, if you can. Sometimes that leads to attempted world domination, as Chamberlain learned from Hitler in 1938. Closer to home it is my college-age son using his bedroom floor as a summertime closet. It can also lead to litigation…. Continue Reading

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Or, as said by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, “A rule of property long acquiesced in should not be overthrown except for compelling reasons of public policy or the imperative demands of justice.” There were no such imperatives in Butler vs. Charles Powers Estate, in which the Court upheld the “Dunham Rule” in Pennsylvania oil… Continue Reading

Co-author: Travis Booher Valid Description? We don’t need no valid stinking description! Actually, in May v. Buck, a Texas Court of Appeals says you do. The need for a sufficient property description in a oil and gas transaction seems like an easy-enough and fundamental concept to grasp, but its application has escaped many a contracting… Continue Reading

By Travis Booher In Texas title law, “it is well settled that a purchaser is bound by every recital, reference and reservation contained in or fairly disclosed by any instrument which forms an essential link in the chain of title under which he claims.” But does this rule apply to mineral reservations in deed restrictions?… Continue Reading

Here is Something We Know A Texas mineral estate owner has an implied easement for reasonable use of the surface estate in developing and extracting the minerals below. And a Question Can the mineral estate owner and his lessee use the easement to produce from a mineral estate that is pooled with the surface estate?… Continue Reading

Head-scratchers: (1) Is a mineral reservation a fraction of royalty, or a fractional royalty? (2) Is there a difference? (3) Does it matter? Answers: (1) It depends on how you phrase it. (2) Yes. (3) Yes, if you care about being paid on production, or you are the scrivener of deeds and assignments and want to… Continue Reading

About Charles Sartain

I have been helping clients of all types resolve their commercial disputes for most of my 35 years as a lawyer. Of the many industries in which I have worked, the energy business is the most fascinating… More